What Happened To Us?
by Drunken Strawberries
Summary: REWRITING: Chapter 4 up! Mikan and Natsume are students of Alice Academy. Because of unfortunate events that had happened in the past, they are now orphans along with Aoi and are under the care of the Academy. They have to pay nothing and are indebted to nothing but there's a catch: Mikan and Natsume must be permanent members of the DA class. Slightly OOC characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note at the bottom of this chapter.**

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><p><em><strong>xoxo<strong>_

_What Happened To Us?_

_**Xoxo**_

"_Yuka! You're both finally here! I thought you wouldn't show up." A woman with jet-black hair that brushed her shoulders greeted us at the door. She had beautiful crimson eyes that lit up when she saw mom. She looked just a bit older than mom too. _

"_Kaoru-senpai! That's mean of you to think so. We weren't that late you know." Mom joked around with 'Kaoru-senpai'. _

'_Kaoru-senpai' giggled. "I know." She winked at mom. Then, her eyes landed on me._

"_Oh? Who's this little lady you have with you?" She crouched down to my level and smiled at me. I held mom's hand a bit tighter and leaned back a bit, suddenly a bit intimidated by this stranger. "I'm Kaoru, you can call me Aunt Kaoru." She smiled warmly at me. "And you are?"_

"_Ah! My name's Mikan Sakura." A stood up straighter and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you Aunt Kaoru!"_

"_What a polite little girl you raised here Yuka!" Aunt Kaoru giggled. "You can raise your head now Mikan. It's nice to meet you too." She then stood up._

"_Come in come in!" She held the door wider and stepped to the side to make way for us. We took off our shoes at the genkan. _

"_Natsume, dear, come down. We have guests." Aunt Kaoru called up the stairs. A boy around my age came down. He had the same black hair and red eyes as Aunt Kaoru._

"_Natsume, this is Aunt Yuka. She's a good friend of mine. And this young lady __beside__ her is her daughter, Mikan Sakura. Isn't she cute?" I heard Aunt Kaoru tell the small boy beside her. His stare was then directed towards me. I felt like I wanted to just shrink behind my mom. He looked scary._

"_Hn." I heard him say. Was that even a word? I scrunched up my face and thought about it. _

"_Mikan, this is my son, Natsume." Now that he was standing before me I can finally look at his profile better. "From what I've heard from Yuka you're 4 years old now right? The same age as Natsume here." From the moment this guy's met me (which is like, 5 seconds or something) he's been glaring at me. I tilted my head at this and wondered why. _

"_Come now, let's head to the living room it's much more comfortable there than standing here in the hallway." As mom and Aunt Kaoru turned towards the living room, Natsume whispered, "Oi baka, what the hell are you staring at?" _

_My eyes widened at what he said. "You shouldn't say that! That's a bad word!" I pointed my finger at him to get across. "And don't call me a baka! I have a name you know!" _

_He raised one eyebrow and regarded me coolly. "What, hell?"_

"_Ah! You did it again!"_

I woke up with a start. I dreamt of that time again, back when I was still a 4 year-old.

I turned on my bedside lamp and stared at the clock. 4:30 am. Great, class doesn't start for another 3 hours and 30 minutes. I groaned and furiously rubbed at my face. Well, might as well get out of bed, seeing as to how, once I wake up, I won't be able to go back to sleep, no matter how much I toss and turn. With a sigh, I tossed back the comfy comforter and got out of bed. I started thinking about what I could do so early in the morning.

After some serious thinking I decided on jogging around campus, I've been out of shape recently anyways.

Having thought of what to do, I went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. I cooked myself some scrambled egg and bacon with a cup of hot chocolate.

I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, got myself some clothes suited for jogging and put my hair up into a messy ponytail. Then grabbed my keys, IPod, and cell phone, and then went outside.

I started some basic stretches then started jogging.

After an hour or so, I sat down and leaned my back on a Sakura tree. It was spring time, so it was in full bloom. A breeze blew by and caused all the pink petals to swirl around me. I was too entranced by this that I didn't even notice someone coming towards me.

"Oi, little girl, what are you doing here? So early in the morning too." A deep, husky voice asked from my left side. And before I knew it, I felt someone plop down on the space beside me.

"I can't go back to sleep." I answered him. "What about you? What are you doing here?" I asked in return and received… No reply. I turned my head to the left and I saw the school's heartthrob, every girl's dream guy, the smartest guy in our batch, and my best friend.

I looked at his face, the same face I've seen mature over the ages, and noticed that faint black circles were under his eyes. I took a deep breath and let it all out in one big sigh. I gazed out on the row of Sakura trees lined up right in front of me. There's only one thing –or, to be more precise, _person, _that could do this to him. But, who are we kidding; the term _thing_ suits that sorry excuse of a person better.

"I swear Natsume, you should break up with her. She isn't worth deteriorating your health for." I started my usual speech. We've been at this for months and I know I'm starting to sound like some nagging mother but I can't help it. My best friend is hurting and he's too prideful to realize it. "She's hurting you! That isn't right!"

"No she's not." He said, just above a whisper.

"Yes she is. Stop turning a blind eye already. She isn't even worth this."

I sighed. As usual, he wouldn't reply after that. We resumed to staring out in front of us. I know that my nagging is hurting him because that means that I don't support him in his decision but seriously? Who would?

Time passed with nothing being said between us. We just sat there feeling the wind brushing our skin, watching the sakura petals dance in the wind.

Finally, I broke that silence. "Ne, Natsume, talk to me. Can't you see how hard I'm trying to have you open up to me? You're so hard to understand. Why can't you just talk to me about this?" I turned to him and stared at him imploringly.

For a while he just stared straight ahead, not even batting an eye at me. But after a while, his eyes softened a bit and his shoulders slumped. He turned to me and we stared into each other's eyes. I searched for the reason in his eyes.

"You wouldn't understand Mikan-"

"Then make me."

His eyes grew wide a bit at my bold statement. He stared at me, shock evident in his eyes. Then he closed them and chuckled. "You'll never change huh?" He softly shaked his head.

"All right, I'll tell you." I perked up at that and he saw it. His famous smirk spread across his face. "But not now." I huffed at him and turned to face away from him. He grinned wide and slung his right arm on my shoulders and pulled me close. I fought hard to hide my blush from him. Not that this isn't usual for us but what he doesn't know is that…

I like him. Very much.

Ever since Aunt Kaoru and mom introduced us back when we were 4 years old.

Up until now that we're 16.

I've liked him all this time.

I've liked him even though he liked a bunch of other girls, I liked him.

But, he never, not once, saw me the same way.

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><p><strong>Okay, so... I have no excuses for my 2 year absence. None at all. I am so sorry.<strong>

**but hey, I am rewriting this because, well, I reread this and... Needless to say I am so sorry I even posted such a story. It was HORRIBLE. VERY VERY HORRIBLE. i'm trashing that one. **

**In other words, I'm remaking this whole story. I'll try to make it waaay better than before. That should be easy cause. Wow. It was just horrible.**

**I seriously can't get over it. **

**THE HORRIBLENESS!**

**Anyways, I'm currently writing the other chapters now. I'm trying to make them super long but meh. **

**Okay so yeah. PLEASE KEEP ON READING THIS STORY AND I'M SO SORRY!**

**Updates will be irregular. I'm a perfectionist. I stared at this for a week before I actually thought of posting it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**hey! Here's chapter 2! It's short I know but the next one's gonna be longer I already have it all typed up. In case you guys haven't noticed, the characters are all kind of OOC. Just a bit. **

**Disclaimer: I forgot to do this in the previous chapter. There disclaimed. What's the use anyways, we all own nothing but the plot anyways. **

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><p><strong>RECAP OF PREVIOUS CHAPTER: <strong>

"_All right, I'll tell you." I perked up at that and he saw it. His famous smirk spread across his face. "But not now." I huffed at him and turned to face away from him. He grinned wide and slung his right arm on my shoulders and pulled me close. I fought hard to hide my blush from him. Not that this isn't usual for us but what he doesn't know is that…_

_I like him. Very much. _

_Ever since Aunt Kaoru and mom introduced us back when we were 4 years old._

_Up until now that we're 16._

_I've liked him all this time._

_I've liked him even though he liked a bunch of other girls, I liked him._

_But, he never, not once, saw me the same way. _

_**xoxo**_

_What Happened To Us?_

_**Xoxo**_

"Why can't you tell me NOW?" I whined and pouted at him. He kept his arm around my shoulders and leaned us back against the tree. Because of this, my head was tucked underneath his chin.

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Just because."

"What kind of reason is that?"

"My kind."

"Oh so now your own reasons."

"Yes."

"What the hell Natsume?!"

"Funny, you saying that. I remember how when we first met you chastised me for saying that. "

"Don't bring that up!"

"You started it."

"Yes I know but- Hey. You're trying to change the topic aren't you."

"Damn it. It was going so well too."

"Ha! You can't trick me that easily you know."

"Yes I know."

I sighed and leaned my head underneath his chin again. To any newbie, we might seem like some lovey-dovey couple shit, but no. I mean I've been wishing – DREAMING- about that but, no. The only thing he sees in me is a best friend, confidant, and a nagging mother. And that will probably be the only thing he will ever see in me.

I checked my wrist watch and saw that there was still two more hours before the bell rang. I poked Natsume's chest to get his attention.

"Hey, there's still two more hours. Go get some sleep. You look like a zombie. I'll drop by and wake you up later."

He checked his watch and I heard him mumble a 'really?'. He then stood up and ruffled my hair. "Thanks, I'll go do that. Later." With that, he turned and headed for the dormitories.

I watched his back as he left. I sighed again. I can't help it. Underneath his hoodie were numerous scars. I should know. I've seen them. Some were fromour missions while the other's I don't even know why they're there. And let me tell you, not knowing is killing me.

I leaned my back against the tree again and stretched my legs in front of me, crossing my ankles too. I stared up at the sky and watched the clouds go by. I can't help but think about how much Natsume's gone through, and how for most of those I've been right beside him, experiencing first-hand some of them. I closed my eyes and immersed myself in my thoughts.

Our parents died on the same day. There was a storm then. My parents were due to come back from a business trip abroad then. Never really knew what it was about though. Anyways, that was the day we got hit by the eye of the storm. Their car broke down in the middle of the road and the water level was rising very quickly then. They called Aunt Kaoru asking for help, saying that they were stranded. Aunt Kaoru immediately drove over to them, braving the storm to help mom and dad. I was staying over at their place then, since my parents decided not to bring me along on the trip. Natsume's dad was left to watch over us. Not long after Aunt Kaoru left, we heard screaming from outside. Natsume's dad went out to help whoever was screaming. He told us not to leave the house and not to let anyone in. Not one of them ever walked past the door again. Natsume and I were 9 years old then. Aoi, Natsume's little sister, was 5 then.

That morning, people from the Academy came to pick us up, and one of them was Narumi-sensei. They explained to us that we were Alices and bla bla bla. But the thing that they never knew was, we already knew what we were and what our Alices were. Our parents had explained everything to us in the case that something happened to them. They were training us in our Alices. I had the SCE and Nullification Alice from my mother and father and Natsume and Aoi had the Fire Alice from their father.

Ever since then, we tried our best to take care of Aoi. She was so young when it all happened. Granted we were only 9 but hey, we were older than her still. Natsume took it upon him to act as both father and brother to Aoi. He tried to fill in the gaps Aunt Kaoru left but I stepped in and took it from him. I know Mom and Dad would've wanted me to do that. The three of us were all we had left so we stuck together.

When the time came for us to attend school like all the other Alices, we had to be separated from Aoi, and she was to be placed in 2 grades lower than us. We weren't okay with it but what could we have done? We were still pretty jumpy even though a little over a month had passed then so you couldn't really blame us. Natsume and I were placed in the same class and seated beside each other. Rumors about me had spread, the girl with 2 Alices and, to top it all off, they were very, _very_ rare. Rumors about Natsume and Aoi had spread too, but not like mine.

In the beginning we were cold and shun everyone out. I tried my best to be slightly friendly but it was hard with everything that had just happened. Over time though we made some friends and actually opened up. The Academy is actually a pretty okay place. We had a place to live in, food, friends and we had to worry about practically nothing. The only downside to it all was that we were to be admitted into the Dangerous Abilities Class. We had argued with the higher-ups about Aoi being placed there and bargained with the principal, who just so happened to be my Uncle, I know total 'What the Fuck' moment there. Going on, we argued and debated and fought and stuff for Aoi to not be a part of that. We really didn't know what the Dangerous Ability was but from the name of it we didn't like it. At all. The president, oh good 'Ol Uncle, finally relented but there was a catch; we had to be permanent members of the class (especially me because of my Alices) meaning there is no possible way out of it and we had to on-call for whatever they may need us for 24/7. Touch catches huh?

I opened my eyes and sighed again. We've been through so much and all this time my feelings for him grew to dangerous levels. As smart as Natsume is, he never did notice my feelings. He's dumb that way. Hell, even Koko and Kitsuneme found out before him. Of course Koko hadn't read my mind; I was trained by my mother to always have my Nullification up around myself. That was one of the few things that she and Dad had managed to teach me before their death.

I checked my watch and found that I only had a little over 30 minutes left. I can't believe day dreaming about the past could take up so much time. No wonder it was one of my hobbies.

I stood up and brushed whatever dirt that had stuck to my shorts and walked back to the dorms to wake up Natsume and get ready for another day with Jinno.

-line break-

"I'm so tired!" I cried out as I jumped on the bed. "So soft!" I bunched up the comforter on the bed and cocooned myself in them. Natsume just chuckled and went to the mini kitchen.

"Hey Natsume can you get me some soda?"

"Get your own."

"You meanie." I poked my tongue out at the direction of the kitchen. A few seconds later Natsume peeked through the door and poked his tongue out at me.

I buried my head in his comforter and wrapped it more tightly around me. It was lunch time and we were in his room. The group had wanted to go to Central Town to eat. We had told them we'd follow them after we had picked up Aoi. Ever since we arrived, we made it a point to eat with Aoi. I checked my watch and saw that it was about time that we headed to Aoi's classroom to pick her up and head to lunch. They were understanding of course. After we had discussed where to meet up we had headed our separate ways.

I threw the covers off of me and went to the mini kitchen. A soda came flying my way but I easily caught it. "I washed it already." I went ahead and popped the cap and drank. "Come on, it's about time we went to Aoi's." I turned my back and went to the door.

As we took the familiar route to Aoi's classroom in the elementary division, we were covered by the usual comfortable silence. Even though it had been years since we came to this school, the elementary kids still stare at us whenever we pass by, especially the really young ones. There is this one kid with wild gray hair that keeps following me, my own little stalker. He started all this a week after we started the routine of picking up Aoi every lunch time and up until now. He tries to be discreet but a kid can only achieve so much. Still he's a cute kid and doesn't bother us so I let it be.

We reached Aoi's classroom a few minutes before her teacher dismissed them. As soon as they were allowed to leave kids started rushing out of the classroom. Aoi walked towards us and we left for Central Town.

We had left the building and as we rounded a corner, I saw a group of kids beating up some kid a little ways from us. I saw a glimpse of wild gray hair underneath the arms that desperately covered his head. I headed their way with every intention of stopping. Aoi had tugged on Natsume's sleeve and they stopped to watch.

"Freak!"

"You're such a weird kid!"

"No wonder your mommy left you here!"

As I got closer I heard the kids screaming this at the kid. It fueled my anger and made me walk towards them faster.

A kid had stopped down to get a rock the size of his hand from near his feet. He raised it high above his and I could tell he intended to beat the kid with it.

"You should just-"I grabbed the kid's wrist holding the rock and that had gotten his attention and his friends'.

"Didn't your teachers ever teach you that bullying another was bad?" I said. I glared at them with such intensity that the kid started to grow pale. Probably recognized me as a DA student, we're kind of popular.

"What's it to you?" He struggled against my grip but I only held him tighter. He gritted his teeth and let go off the rock. He had brought up his other hand and started trying to pry my fingers away from his wrist. His friends had stopped kicking at the kid, started to back away a bit and stared. The kid that they were beating up had peeked from beneath his arms.

"Because" I gripped him even tighter and he screamed out. His friends tried to run away but I stopped them using the Shadow Manipulation Alice I had copied from Tsubasa-senpai. "Bullying is bad." I threw the kid towards his friends. I knocked them against each other then they crumbles to the ground.

"If I find out that you kids are doing this again to anyone else I will come back for you." And with that they ran away. I huffed and crouched down to help the kid. "Hey, are you okay?" He nodded at me with his head bowed down, not meeting my eyes.

"You sure?" I inspected his arms that had taken the most damage. He merely nodded again. I looked him over.

"I know you've been following me around you know." He froze up a bit. "Don't worry about it. I don't mind. What's your name?"

"Youichi." He had whispered. I hummed to let him know that I heard him. I stood up and brushed my skirt. "Well Youichi we were just heading to lunch, would you like to come with us?"

He looked behind me to see who 'we' are. I could tell he mulled about it over but he nodded. I helped him stand up and walked him over to Natsume and Aoi.

"He's coming with us to lunch." Natsume had just stared at me and Aoi looked ecstatic to have someone with us for lunch. "I'll pay." I added. Natsume shrugged and ruffled up Youichi's hair.

"What's your name kid?"

"Youichi."

"Hn." Natsume crossed his arms behind his head and walked towards the bus that will take us to Central Town.

"That means his fine with it." I whispered to Youichi and winked at him. "Come on before he leaves us." I grabbed his hand and jogged over to catch up with Aoi and Natsume.


	3. Chapter 3

**yep! quick update for you guys! It's just that the next chapter is going pretty well and I finally know where I'm going with this story! I had just recently read this awesome fanfic and I'm really inspired by it so yeah! Hope you guys like this story! It's the longest chapter so far. Tee hee!**

**Disclaimer: refer to previous chapter**

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><p><strong>RECAP OF PREVIOUS CHAPTER:<strong>

"_He's coming with us to lunch." Natsume had just stared at me and Aoi looked ecstatic to have someone with us for lunch. "I'll pay." I added. Natsume shrugged and ruffled up Youichi's hair._

"_What's your name kid?"_

"_Youichi."_

"_Hn." Natsume crossed his arms behind his head and walked towards the bus that will take us to Central Town. _

"_That means his fine with it." I whispered to Youichi and winked at him. "Come one before he leaves us." I grabbed his hand and jogged over to catch up with Aoi and Natsume. _

_**xoxo**_

_What Happened To Us?_

_**Xoxo**_

We arrived at Central Town and headed straight to the restaurant we had agreed on. It was a quaint little establishment. The lights were all soft yellow giving of the relaxing feel. The walls were all that old kind of mossy green you'd usually find in old manors. Despite seeming to be a high end restaurant it's actually one of the cheapest places in Central Town and it's also the rowdiest.

After we told the waitress our reservation, she escorted us to a table in the far corner near the windows where our friends were. Koko and Kitsuneme were, as usual, pestering Yuu. Hotaru was working on an invention and has rallied Ruka into being her assistant. Anna and Nonoko were looking over the menu. Sumire was brushing off Mochiage again (I swear those two has some serious chemistry going on). Permy's still clinging onto the thought that she still loved Natsume and has been _convincing _herself that Mochiage is nothing more but an annoying baldy. Her words not mine. Honestly, that girl's just too stubborn.

As we neared them, Yuu was the first to notice us. AS a desperate attempt to get away from Koko and Kitsuneme, he cried out that we had finally arrived. "Go annoy them now instead of me!" Poor guy. Koko and Kitsuneme had gotten out of their seats, obviously with every intention of annoying us next when they noticed Youichi. They bounded over to him instead.

"Hey, who's this little guy?" Koko said.

"His name's Youichi." Aoi said.

"Is that right now?" Kitsuneme said. He stuck out his hand towards Youichi and said, "The name's Kitsuneme and this guy is Koko."

"Yo!" Koko waved.

"It's nice to meet you." Youichi bowed.

"Polite kid huh?" Sumire said over her shoulder. "Hey Koko, Kitsuneme! Maybe you guys could learn a lesson about manners from him!"

"Don't mind that witch Youichi." Koko and Kitsuneme had slung their arms on Youichi's shoulders. Youichi frantically looked from Koko, Kitsuneme and from the 'witch' that was trying to lash out at them but was only held back by Mochiage. "She's just sad 'cause she has no love life." Kitsuneme said.

"Yup! You don't need to worry about that old grouch. Call her Permy by the way." Koko waved Permy away dismissively.

"Hmph!" Permy snatched Youichi away and sat him between her and Anna. "Don't listen to them, you'll be influenced by their stupidity. My name's Sumire and NOT Permy."

"Um… Okay…." Youichi answered back, albeit timidly.

"Aw, now look what you've done Permy! You scared him!" Koko cried out.

"Yeah! Poor Youichi!" Kitsuneme cried. He and Koko had taken a seat again which was in front of Sumire.

"Shut up!"

Natsume, Aoi, and I took our seats beside Hotaru and Ruka. "I'm starting to think that bringing Youichi with us was a bad idea." I sweatdropped. "Look at the poor kid. He's being harassed by them already."

"I think he's doing fine." Natsume brushed off the topic and immediately took a menu.

"I guess you're right." And with that, we took our orders and started introducing the kid to everyone. By the time introductions were finished, our meals were served and we dug in. Yes it took us that long because distractions were just everywhere. Idle chat was passed around between us. Everything was going fine.

"Natsume!"

Not.

Everyone turned to look behind us. There, standing 6 feet away from us was Luna Koizumi. In case you're wondering, she's Natsume's girlfriend. Though I'd like to think that Natsume only goes out with her cause he's the most popular guy in school and she's the most popular bitch (Yep that's right she's a total bitch), but I know Natsume more than that and realize that there's something more going on. Well, Natsume told me that he'll tell me one day I just wish that that day will come sooner.

"Baby, I've been looking all over for you! I was calling your cell but you weren't picking up!" She bounced her way over to our table and headed straight for Natsume where she hung herself. Yes that's right. She BOUNCED.

Everyone was staring at her, begging for someone up there for her to take a damn hint. We don't want her here and for good reason. She's the sluttiest, bitchiest, bossiest whore in school. Okay maybe I went too far but hey. She has gone out with practically 2/5 of the male population, high school only of course. There are hundreds of rumors surrounding her. And when I said she's popular, she's popular in an infamous way.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. I checked my watch and saw that it was close to 1:30, class starts then. I was about to tell everyone when the PA turned on. Since Central Town is still practically a part of Alice Academy and the fact that all of us here are students, they also put PAs here in Central Town.

Static was the only thing coming out of the speakers when someone cleared there throat. "Classes for this afternoon are cancelled to give way for a teacher's meeting. All teachers are asked to head to the meeting hall immediately after this announcement. I repeat…"

We all stared at each other, dumfounded. Cancellation of classes hardly ever happens in Alice Academy. They only happen when there's a natural disaster like a storm or when there is something of utmost importance.

Just when I was about to open my mouth to talk, I was once again cut off by my phone. I flipped it open and saw that I had received a text message. I quickly opened it and saw that it came from Persona.

Now, contrary to what the whole student body thinks. He isn't a bad guy. It's just because he dresses like that, all black and stuff. But in truth, he's just one of those people that have a hard time conveying their feelings to people. Trust me, I'd know, I broke through that mask of his.

"Training Grounds in 5 minutes."

See what I mean by having a hard time conveying his feelings? I pocketed my phone and tried to eat whatever was left on my plate as fast as I could. After a minute or so my plate didn't even have a grain of rice left. I don't believe in wasting food see? I whipped out my wallet and counted the amount of rabbits for my meal.

"Hotaru! I have to go now. Here's my bill, pay for me will you?" I shoved that bills to her and said good bye to everyone.

Natsume caught my eye before I had run out of the restaurant. "Wait- Mikan!" He called out.

I turned around and called back, "What? I'm in a hurry!"

He tried to subtly push Luna's arm around his neck away. "Where are you going?"

I took out my phone from my pocket and waved it. "I got called!" I checked my watch and saw that I had 30 seconds left. "I really gotta go now. Bye!" And with that I ran out of the café and teleported to the training grounds.

* * *

><p>I teleported into the middle of the training field. I scanned the area around me, checking if there was anyone around the vicinity. One of Persona's principles was to always be on-guard. He practically drilled that into us, what with coming here and always being killed by his Alice. That was exactly why I had sensed his Alice before it even reached me. I nullified it immediately and sent spears of ice into his general direction. Of course he need only jump out of the way.<p>

"What did you need me for? My training's not until tonight." I asked him when he had come out of the shadows. A folder came flying towards me and I caught it with ease. I flipped it open and scanned the contents. Inside were lots of papers.

**(A/N: guys, I know nothing about IT stuff so please bear with this stuff that I've managed to come up with)**

"Those are some of the men that have been trying to copy our school's files on all the students. They've hacked into our system and had managed to get as far as the decoy files. We've managed to track down their location but it may not be correct. I want you to find them, find out what they want, who told them to do so and eliminate them. Use any means necessary to carry out this mission."

I nodded at him and hummed. According to what the ITs in school managed to get, these guys were hiding out in Singapore, kinda far from Japan if you ask me. I flipped through the pages and tried to memorize what was important which really isn't that much. I closed the folder and through it back at him.

"You're partner will be arriving at Singapore around the same time as you. I want you to leave in an hour. The school already has transpo all prepared. You're max will be 3 days. I expect you to complete this mission. Clear?"

"Clear."

"Dismissed." And with that, we teleported out of there.

-line break-

The moment I teleported to my room, I grabbed my black backpack that I use for missions and start stuffing it with things that I'll need and are allowed to inside handheld baggage like my ipod and headphones. After that, I grabbed my large bright red duffel bag then started to fill that up with my toiletries, clothes, and other miscellaneous necessities like my charger.

In 30 minutes I had everything packed in my bag. I took a quick 5 minutes shower and changed into jeans and a t-shirt. I quickly slipped on my high-cut converse and grabbed my hoodie. After checking that I had unplugged everything and all that, I closed my door and headed to Natsume's room to inform him. It was a routine of ours to inform the other.

Even though the boys are banned from the girl's dormitory and vise versa, as long as you keep your doors wide or have a teacher with you, it is fine for the opposite gender to be in your room. Of course, no one's actually done the latter. Also, you can only go there between 9 am – 3pm. The only exceptions to this rule are emergencies and siblings.

I entered the boy's dormitory and headed to Natsume's room. During our earlier years here, we were constantly teased since we always went to the other's room and the frequency that we did that did not help. But when we became a part of the Dangerous Abilities they stopped. No one wanted to be on the bad side of the top 2 students of D.A.

Natsume's room was on the fourth floor and it didn't really take me that long to get there. Since it was only quarter to 2, the number of student in here was relatively few since the others were outside. I knocked on his door and waited for a few seconds then knocked again. Thinking that he must still be outside, I used the spare key that he had given me before and went inside.

The layout of Natsume's room was similar to mine. It had a small kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom. All of the rooms were decent sizes so they weren't small. I headed straight to his refrigerator and wrote on the notepad he kept there. After that was done, I left the room and headed to the school's gates where my ride that will take me to the airport was waiting.

* * *

><p>I arrived at the airport and received my passport from the guy that took me here. I checked in and got my tickets from the ground stewardess. I scanned the ticket and found out the Academy got me a first class, sweet. My flight to Singapore was at 3:30 pm so I still had time to spare. I turned on my music and walked around the airport, watching the different shops and their merchandise. There were a lot of convenience stores so I decided to buy some light snacks but not too much because I know that the trip had a meal.<p>

15 minutes to boarding time I headed back to my departure gate. I sat on one of the benches around and watched the other people on the flight.

A minute into my people-watching I felt my phone vibrate in my pants pocket. I took it out and flipped it open. It was a call from Natsume. I took off my headphones and clicked 'answer'.

"Hello?"

"Where are you headed to?"

"Singapore."

"For how long?"

"At most will be 3 days."

"Difficulty?"

"I dunno." I tilted my head back and stared at the ceiling. I raised my left hand and took note of the time, a minute to boarding time.

"I see." After that, a silence came over us. I heard some shuffling on the other line then heard Aoi's voice saying something like she wasn't feeling too good. That got my attention immediately and I sat up straighter.

"Natsume? Is Aoi okay? Does she have a fever?" I anxiously waited for his reply.

"She might. Her forehead's kind of warm. Let me just get the thermometer." More shuffling and some curses came from the other line as Natsume looked for the thermometer. The PA then turned on and a lady announced that my flight was now boarding. I let the other people go first, it'll be too crowded anyways; I'll just wait for the crowd to thin out.

"Where are you guys?" I asked.

"We're just hanging out in my room. Where is i- Got it."

I looked at the line and saw that the crowd was thinner now. Time for me to go.

"Natsume, I got to go, my flight's here. Just text me what's going on and I'll call you guys back when I land there." I took a quick look around me to make sure that I didn't leave anything behind. After making sure that I had left nothing, I picked up my backpack and made my way to the gate.

"Got it. I'll inform you if she gets worse. Be careful Mikan."

"I'm always careful. Talk to you guys later." I replied. I snapped my phone shut and stuffed it inside my backpack. I gave my ticket to the lady for her to scan.

"Have a nice flight." She smiled at me. I smiled back and thanked her.

I entered the tarmac and headed into the plane where I quickly settled into my wide first-class seat as I waited for the plane to take off.

* * *

><p><strong>Somehow I can't believe that this is my longest chapter. It's so short. Ugh. So embarrassing. I'll do my best in the next chapter! <strong>

**RXR!**

**April 30, 2013 : Edited for grammatical errors. **


	4. Chapter 4

**This is literally the longest chapter I've written. 3,700 words. Yey me! Hope you enjoy!**

**Also, a little heads-up for you guys. the Alices I used here for Mikan are from the manga so yeah. Also, Higuchi Tachibana said she had the Insertion Alice so there you go. **

**Disclaimer: I only own Miles, Jess, and Mike. And the plot of course. all rights go to Higuchi Tachibana duh.**

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><p><strong>RECAP OF PREVIOUS CHAPTER:<strong>

"_I'm always careful. Talk to you guys later." I replied. I snapped my phone shut and stuffed it inside my backpack. I gave my ticket to the lady for her to scan. _

"_Have a nice flight." She smiled at me. I smiled back and thanked her._

_I entered the tarmac and headed into the plane where I quickly settled into my wide first-class seat as I waited for the plane to take off._

_**xoxo**_

_What Happened To Us?_

_**Xoxo**_

The flight to Singapore was uneventful. I didn't have someone sitting beside me so I had the whole row to myself to which I gladly took advantage of. Only 2 hours into the flight the food had been served. The food was delicious; I could tell that it's pretty high-lass even though I don't know much about the culinary world, that's Ana. I had noodles and some meat. Whatever it was, it was pretty damn good. It had some sauce that had just the right amount of spice. Other than the noodles there was, of course, some rice and a side dish that could go with it. Along with that was some cake. And let me tell you, every single one of them was like a small bite of heaven. Especially the cake, I swear it was like kissing an angel, tongue and all. It was as though it was made out of the very essence of an angel. Okay that sounded weird. MOVING ON!

After the food was cleared away by the stewardess, and after informing them that I will not need anything else, I settled down and tried to get a bit of sleep although I was still alert should a passenger be a spy sent after me.

The whole flight lasted for around 6 hours and 50 minutes. As we landed, I stood up and stretched my stiff back, letting out a sigh of contentment as I heard some pops from my back. When the door was opened and the line moved, I smiled at the stewardess and thanked her as I left the plane. She seemed genuinely surprised that I'd do that but smiled back.

Immigration is always a pain, no matter what country you go to. The guy behind the glass panel scrutinized me for quite some time, then asked me in a heavily accented English why a minor like me was traveling alone, where was my guardian and so on. I fished out the l.D. I was given by the Academy. We're all given this whenever we have missions that required for us to go outside of the country. Since the Academy has hundreds of branches world-wide, it's quite well-known. I've even been to the branch in China; needless to say it looked just like our branch, only it had some more Chinese accents to the architecture.

I flashed this little baby straight to the dude's scowling face and he immediately straightened up and stamped my passport and waved me through. I smirked at him and went my merry way.

I walked past the carousel since I didn't have any baggage that I had checked in and all I brought with me was my backpack, I headed straight for the exit. I scanned the area for my guide and found him a little ways from the exit, holding up a blank piece of paper. It's SOP for us to hold a blank piece of paper when meeting up. Weird right?

He nodded at me and to someone behind my back. I saw my partner walking right up to us. He was also carrying a back pack but in addition to that he also had a duffel bag with him. He seemed to be around my age, had dark brown hair with red streaked through it and bright green eyes. I had to admit, he was cute. We eyed each other, and then our chauffer led us to a black BMW and opened the door for us. I entered first then my partner.

"We'll be heading back to the hotel where we'll be staying at for the duration of this mission. Here's the file for. This is much more detailed than the one you were briefed with. You can call me Mike." He then handed us two folders while keeping his eyes on the road. We each got a folder and started flipping through it.

"Wait, I thought I only got to work with one person, why'd we suddenly gain two more members?" The guy, James Miles, voiced out. Honestly, I was seriously wondering about that too. At first, I thought he was our chauffeur or something.

"Because, this is a level-B mission, and seeing as to how complex it is, they decided to have us join and help." 'Mike' said. "So, what are your names?"

"Call me Miles."

"Sakura."

"Gotcha." Mike, swerved hard to the right as the car from the opposite lane suddenly cut in front of us. "Damn these bastards, you'd think they know how to drive properly. They got their licenses damn it." He grumbled.

"Okay, so, Miles, you and my partner are going to be in charge of all the technical parts of this mission. The both of you track down their location and all that. While you and I, Sakura, are tasked with the muscle part of this mission. We'll be in charge of the field work and eliminating the ones in our way. Oh yeah, we also gotta protect the tech people from getting killed since they are very important, got that?"

"Hmm." I was too distracted about turning my phone on and trying to contact Natsume if Aoi was alright now to answer him properly.

"Other information that you'll need to know will be in those folders." After that, the whole ride was cloaked in silence. I had given up on contacting Natsume since my phone was apparently dead since I had forgotten to charge it last night and didn't get the chance to do it before I left. I made a mental note to charge it the moment we got to the hotel.

I looked out the window to watch the scenery passing by my eyes. Though it was kind of dark already, Singapore really is a clean and nature-loving country. Every you look there will always be nature thriving in this city. It's pretty amazing. I mean, Japan also has a lot of green mixed in the city but Singapore is really something else. It gives of the whole place a kind of relaxing feel.

A couple of minutes later, we arrived at the hotel. It was a five-star hotel that had a pretty decent location, smack dab in the middle of the city. After we had parked the car in the underground parking lot, we got out and headed for the elevators that will take us to the lobby. From there, we took another elevator to the penthouse where we were apparently staying for the duration of our stay.

"They got us a penthouse suite. It's pretty spacey; it has 4 rooms so we should all be able to have some privacy still. It's at the 35th floor; here are your copies of the keycard." He handed us 2 key cards just as the elevator reached our floor. Talk about fast elevators.

We exited the elevators and headed for the door. Once we got in, I have to say, I'm impressed. The moment you enter the door, you get confronted by the living room and it is HUGE. Three posh sofas and a coffee table in the middle face the LCD TV on the wall on the west side of the room. Beyond that, there was this large window that gave you an epic view of the metropolis. Two love seats and a coffee table between them were placed by the window. To the right was the kitchen which looked awesome, Ana would die to cook there. Then there were hallways that led to what I guessed were the separate rooms.

"Oh, hey, you're here!" A woman in probably her mid-twenties came out from one of the hallways. I made a mental note that that room was taken. She had red, wavy hair that reached her waist that she was towel-drying. She had an hourglass figure that her tight shirt and shorts showed.

She headed towards our way, dropping her towel on one of the love seats she passed. She shook both of our. "Name's Jessica, call me Jess. My Alice is the Alice of Water. I can manipulate water in any of its forms."

"I haven't properly introduced myself yet." Mike stepped forward and stood beside Jess. "Name's Mike. My Alice is the Alice of Lightning."

"James Miles, Miles for short. Alice of Technology." Miles answered. "I'm pretty good with anything that has to do with computers."

"Huh, pretty handy Alice you got there for this mission. No wonder they got you in the team." Mike said. "Although, it doesn't seem to be dangerous enough to be an agent. This your first mission?"

"Yeah. I'm not an agent, they just said I have the most advanced Alice concerning tech stuff and seeing as to how we need to track a hacker, they got me." Assuming that his introduction was finished I started mine.

"Mikan Sakura, call me Sakura." As soon as I said my name, Jess and Mike stared at me.

"No way." Jess breathed out.

"Are you serious?" Mike asked. "I didn't really ask for your full name earlier so I didn't notice."

"The one and only." I nodded.

"It's gonna be great working with you!" Jess cried out. "I've always wanted to be assigned a mission with you. Emily said you're really fun to work with!"

"Emily? You mean the one that has the Alice to transform into anything?" I'm rarely assigned a mission that requires a partner so those mission are quite few. Still, I'm pretty sure my last mission was with someone named Emily or something near to that.

"Yeah that's her! We're good friends. Still I can't believe this! How lucky could I get?"

"She gets like this when she's really happy or excited about something." Mike told me.

"Hold up, why are you guys so excited in meeting her?" Miles, we completely forgot about him. "Who is she? A celebrity?"

"I guess you could say that Mikan here, I could call you that right?" I nodded at Jess. "Well, she's pretty famous in our world. Actually, I guess infamous would be a much better word when explaining to a non-agent." She winked at Miles.

"Mikan's known as one of the best female Alice-users in the world because of her Alice matched with her skill in hand-to-hand combat, martial arts, shooting, you name it. Not to mention her young age, it's no wonder her name is pretty well-known to us."

"I see. And her Alice is…" He trailed off.

"My Alices are Nullification, Insertion, and SEC."

"3 Alices?" He cried out. I mean, it's not like you meet someone everyday with who has more than 1 Alice. "Wait, SEC? What's that. I've never heard of it before."

"It's one of the rarest Alices in the world." Mike told him.

"It's the acronym for Steal, Copy and Erase. It literally means that I could Steal someone's Alice from then, Copy their Alice and make it one of my own, and Erase their Alice."

"So if you could Copy someone's Alice, how many Alice's do you have now?"

I made a mental check of the list of Alices that I have. "Give or take a hundred or something. Whenever I meet someone with a new Alice, I copy it. You'll never know when you'll need something like that. Although most of the Alices that I've copied are mostly for offense and defense purposes only."

"That's pretty cool." He was obviously still thinking it over. He moved over to the living room and started bringing out his laptop, murmuring stuff like 'research' and 'never heard before' under his breath.

Jess just laughed and slung her arm across his shoulders. "Don't worry kid I feel ya. I had the exact same reaction."

"So, have you guys eaten yet? It's kinda late already." I checked my watch and was surprised to see that it was a quarter to 10 already.

"If you consider the food served on the plane a meal then yeah." Miles said still distracted.

"Same here."

"Hmm…" Jess mulled it over in her head then came back. "Well, we don't really have much ingredients here right now so, how's about Chinese?"

"I'm fine with that." I called over my shoulder as I headed off to check the rooms. I was determined to make the best one mine.

I quickly surveyed each room and chose the one with the best view. I dumped my backpack on the floor then jumped into the queen-sized bed. It was so soft that I could feel myself drowning amongst the pillows and the comforter. I suddenly remembered about my phone so I dug out the charger, universal adaptor, and the phone from my backpack I scanned the room for a socket. I found one near the desk so I crawled over there. I plugged in my phone and waited for it to turn on. When it finally did, I checked if the roaming had turned on. After I was sure that it was, I dialed Natsume's phone and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Natsume! How's Aoi? Is she okay? How high did her fever get?" I was frantic to know. Aoi's sick and I can't help her.

"Her temperature was 37.8 so calm down already your voice is hurting my ears." I laughed, relieved that Aoi was safe.

"I see, that's great."

"So, what's the difficulty?"

"It's a B."

"Hn."

Another thing that had happened when we had entered the Academy, the moment they found out about my Alices, they had me go through brutal training, really brutal training. Natsume's training was nothing compared to mine's. Also, the moment I had finished my training, they threw me to a level-C mission at once. Crazy I know.

You see, missions are ranked in 6 levels, letters A-F. The F level, are the lowest of the low meant for beginner agents, simple infiltration, getting information, tracking people, those kinds.

When you are qualified for E, you're forced to use any means necessary to get what you need; you learn how to torture people, block out their pain-filled screams, your hands are slowly getting coated with blood.

In a C-level mission, you start killing people. You're life may be threatened but just a bit. That's all.

In B, these are the slightly important ones. The one's that could take quite a while to finish like this one. You get partnered up with either one or a couple of people. In this level, the chances of you dying are pretty high. The gap between C and D is quite big.

Now, A, that's the big ones. They are missions that are a matter of utmost importance. Missions can only be classified as As if an Academy has been harmed or seriously threatened. Lots of Alices could die here. See?

Natsume found out about my first mission, Aoi too. Aoi was really worried and cried a lot that night. I tried to reassure her that it was gonna be okay and that I'll be fine but her tears just won't stop. Natsume said nothing that night; he just stared at me with an emotion in his eyes that I can't describe.

"Well, I gotta go I just called to-"

"Natsume! Who are you talking to on that phone? Stop playing around there and come to me!" I'd know that pathetically whiny voice anywhere.

"Natsume, what is SHE doing there?" Apparently, she had managed to grab Natsume's phone and put it on loud-speaker.

"I don't see a problem Mikan. I mean, I AM his girlfriend after all." I nerve throbbed on my temple. How dare she use my first name?

"You are so lucky I am out of town Koizumi."

"Oooh! I'm so scared! As if you'd actually hurt me. Natsume won't let you." She actually thinks Natsume can stop me? I resisted the urge to retort back at her, it would never end if I do that.

"Natsume, what are you doing with her? Aoi's got a slight fever and you're out with your girlfriend? Who the hell's taking care of Aoi?" I really can't believe this. By this point I was standing up, pacing the length of my room, and shouting into my phone. I never thought the time would come that Natsume would put Aoi in need second place in his life.

"It's none of your business." Did I just hear him right?

A knock on the door came and my door opened. Mike and Jess peeked inside my room. "Hey, Sakura, we were just wondering wha-"

"Are you kidding me Natsume?" I was so angry right now that I didn't even bother to answer Jess back. I just waved my free hand at her and tried to smile at her but I bet it was more of a grimace.

"Look Aoi's fine, Ruka's with her." I heard him sigh on the other side.

"Natsume Hyuuga. You're sister is sick with a fever."

"Slight fever." That bitch had the nerve to cut me?

"Shut up Koizumi. Anyways, Aoi's sick and you're out with her? What the hell?" I glanced at the door to check if they were still there. They were and when they saw me looking at them, they told me that food was ready and that I should come and eat. I nodded at them then they left.

"You know what," I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "I'll call Ruka and ask him instead on how Aoi's doing." And with that, I ended the call and dialed up Ruka's number. He answered after the 4th ring.

"Mikan?" Over the years, he got over this minor crush he had with me and moved on to Hotaru. Even though he won't admit it, we could tell he was smitten with her. I also managed to convince him to call me by my name too.

"Hey Ruka, can't really talk for long so I'll try to keep it short. I just wanted to know how Aoi's doing?"

"She's doing better now, her temperature's gone down. Did you want to talk to her? She's asleep though."

"No it's fine, I just called to check up on her since her good-for-nothing brother's out with her." I practically spat 'her'.

Ruka sighed. "So you found out huh."

"What the heck is wrong with him Ruka? He used to put his sister first above everything else. And now, Aoi's sick but he's out?"

"I know what you mean."

I sighed heavily. "Well, I gotta go now. Take care of Aoi for me!"

"I will, bye Mikan." And with that, I hung up.

-line break-

"So, who were you talking to?" We were in the living room eating dinner. Cartons were strewn all over the coffee table after we had thrown them there. In the amount of time that I was shouting into my phone, they had set up all the equipment here. Computers and all sorts of gadgets were hooked up and running.

"My idiot friend." I grumbled.

"Sounds like he was one heck of an idiot judging on how mad you were." Mike commented.

"He's not usually so stupid but I don't know why his stupidity started working now." I shrugged. "Anyways, can we stop talking about him? It's annoying me."

"Sure." Jess said. "Now for the important question." She ran to the kitchen and we could hear her open the fridge.

"Who's up for dessert?" She was grinning widely with two plastic bags in her hands.

"What is it?" Miles asked as he put down his carton of Chinese takeout.

"Cake and some pudding. We also got ice cream."

Miles nodded his head. "I'll have some."

"Me too!" Dessert is exactly what I need right now.

When everything was set, I didn't even know what to eat first. I hate that feeling. In the end, I gave in and got one of everything. And you know what? They were all good; really, good.

We finished eating a few minutes after the dessert was laid out. We cleaned up for a while then we started getting serious. Turns out, Miles already had a program -which he had written himself- running to track down those hackers. Since those guys did really well in hiding their traces, it would probably take a while before we had their location.

Seeing as to how we won't be able to do much of anything for now, Mike and I decided to go out and survey the area, get familiar with the place and all. I'd handle the aerial view and he'd do it on foot. Since Singapore is a relatively small country it shouldn't take us that long.

Mike and I headed to our rooms to get ready. I wore my black tank top, leather jacket, black cargo pants and my converse. I put my hair up in a ponytail then slipped on my black mask that I wear during my missions. After that, I went back to the living room where I saw Mike was waiting. He was clothed as though he was a tourist out to taste the nightlife of Singapore; he even had a camera hanging by his neck. When he saw me, he nodded his head then we bid our goodbyes.

I opened the window and looked down. We were probably up a hundred feet (we were up in the 30th floor) but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I leapt out of the window and activated the Levitation Alice that I had copied from Mochu while activating the Invisibility Alice as well. Behind me, Miles closed the window, waved goodbye, and then drew the curtains. I went ahead of Mike and started exploring the city on my own, making mental notes of possible places as I went.

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><p><strong>So? I'm not really proud of this chapter. Kind of boring right? I'll start working on the next one now.<strong>

**BTW, guys I need a Beta. Anyone want to volunteer?**

**RXR!**


	5. Chapter 5

REWRITING

CURRENTLY UNDER CONTRUCTION

REWRITING


	6. Chapter 6

REWRITING

CURRENTLY UNDER CONTRUCTION

REWRITING


	7. Of Swim suits and Trust

REWRITING

CURRENTLY UNDER CONTRUCTION

REWRITING


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